The Mount Sinai Hospital

The Mitral Valve Repair Reference Center at The Mount Sinai Hospital is one of the most advanced in the country. The superiority of mitral valve repair over mitral valve replacement with a mechanical or bioprosthetic valve is well established. The Mitral Valve Repair Reference Center at Mount Sinai offers patients the highest percentage of mitral valve repair available anywhere in the world.

In patients with mitral valve prolapse, our success rate in avoiding mitral valve replacement approaches 100%. We also have mitral valve repair expertise for patients with advanced cardiomyopathy. If patients have associated atrial fibrillation, we offer the latest in concomitant arrhythmia surgery, including the MAZE procedure. We also perform mitral valve repair surgery with minimally invasive approaches, when appropriate.

Who Should Perform Your Mitral Valve Repair?

The new American College of Cardiology-American Heart Association Guidelines for Management of Patients with Valvular Heart Disease have introduced the concept of ‘reference center’ referral to ensure patients who have complex degenerative valve disease requiring surgery have the best possible chance of avoiding a valve replacement, particularly in the asymptomatic setting. Criteria to define a ‘reference center’ for mitral valve repair were not given, but phrases such as high likelihood of repair depends on the ‘skill and experience of the surgeon’ are inferential to reference centers. The United Kingdom is also starting to explore the concept of best-practice standards for patients with degenerative mitral valve disease, suggesting a surgeon undertaking such procedures should perform a minimum of 25 mitral valve repairs a year, and a center 50 repairs a year, to be part of a network of mitral valve repair centers.

Perhaps of more significance, it was explicitly recognized that patients with Barlow’s disease should ideally be referred to ‘super-specialists’ to increase the likelihood of valve repair. Although healthcare purchasers have not yet become involved, it is significant that Dr. Bernadine Healy, former head of the National Institutes of Health and the American Red Cross, wrote a recent article in a major US news magazine entitled ‘The Mitral Valve Question’, which highlighted in clear layman’s terms that too many patients undergo inappropriate mitral valve replacement. The relevance of reference center referral is summarized in the advice she gave to a patient with mitral regurgitation a decade earlier – ‘someday he would likely need an operation, and wherever he was, whoever his doctor was, he must go to a place skilled at repair’. Such counseling should also apply today to most of our patients requiring elective surgery for mitral regurgitation.

Meet Our Heart Valve Specialists

The Mount Sinai Hospital has assembled a special team of heart valve specialists that are committed to getting patients the best results. Our team consists of many leading surgeons and cardiologists that you can learn more about by clicking the links below:

Our Patients Say

When the unthinkable happens to your family, you can only hope that the help that arrives is a fraction of what we experienced with you. You have been generous, kind and exceptionally ... Read more.

Dear Dr. Adams,

When the unthinkable happens to your family, you can only hope that the help that arrives is a fraction of what we experienced with you. You have been generous, kind and exceptionally wonderful with Laura's surgery. Thank you, thank you. Your team is amazing.

Kind wishes,Angela & Harold

Dr. Adams and Dr. Varghese,

It has been five months since my surgery and I wanted to let you both know that I am doing very well. It's not easy to find out at 30 years old that you need open heart ... Read more.

Dr. Adams and Dr. Varghese,

It has been five months since my surgery and I wanted to let you both know that I am doing very well. It's not easy to find out at 30 years old that you need open heart surgery but thanks to you and your team I had the best experience possible at Mount Sinai.

When I found out I needed surgery I spent hours on the internet looking for the right doctor. When I saw that your website was devoted entirely to mitral valve repair and not replacement, I knew that you were the right doctors for me. Initially I was concerned about having the surgery via thoracotomy because I was afraid it would be more painful. I was surprised to find that I had only mild pain after surgery. Three days after I was discharged my husband and I were enjoying a July 4th BBQ with our friends.

I am signed up to run my first road race in two weeks, hopefully a few minutes faster than before my surgery. I have included a picture of me from my best friend's wedding in October, in a black dress that I felt comfortable wearing because of the thoracotomy. I hope that the pictures will help other people feel good about the choice they make to have mitral valve surgery, it really is worth it. I will never find the words to thank you for what you did for me and my family.

Jennifer B.

Dear Dr. Adams,

How can I begin to thank you and your wonderful staff for the absolutely great work you have done for me. My wife, Mary, and I were initially so afraid of the mitral valve repair ... Read more.

Dear Dr. Adams,

How can I begin to thank you and your wonderful staff for the absolutely great work you have done for me. My wife, Mary, and I were initially so afraid of the mitral valve repair surgery, but from the very beginning to my discharge from Mount Sinai you and your staff instilled such warmth, professionalism, and confidence that any concerns we may have had completely disappeared.

Dr. Adams, you are the first doctor I have ever met that said exactly what I say to my patients, and that is “you'll do for me what you yourself would want done if this were you”. That statement, your gifts, and your gentle warmth made all the difference.

Because of your God-given talents I enjoyed a very blessed Christmas with my wife, Mary, and my two little boys, Frankie (five years old) and Dominic (three years old), and what’s more, I am sure I will enjoy many more healthy and happy years with my family.

Thank you, David, for all you do! Please extend my sincere thanks to your wonderful staff, including Dr. Robin, Dr. Federico Milla, Dr. Ahmed, Leemor, Teresa, Terry, MaryAnn, Maura, Ava, Sean, and Joel. All of you have made the most wonderful difference in improving my health and quality of life - but thanks most of all for giving me the greatest gift of life to share for many more years with my wife and two little sons. Who knows, maybe Frankie or Dominic may someday go to Med school and apply to your fantastic program at Mount Sinai - for you are certainly an inspiration for my family.

Again, thank you so very much.

With great warmth,Frank G.

Clinical References For Our Patients

To help you learn more about The Mount Sinai Hospital, here are references for you: